Glycoconjugates can be readily formed by the condensation of a free-reducing terminus and a strong alpha-effect nucleophile, such as a hydrazide or a hydroxylamine. Further characterization of a series of glycoconjugates formed from xylose, glucose and N-acetylglucosamine, and either p-toluenesulfonyl hydrazide or an N-methylhydroxylamine, was carried out to gain insight into the optimal conditions for the formation of these useful conjugates, and their stability. Their apparent association constants (9-74 M(-1)) at pH 4.5; as well, as rate constants for hydrolysis, at pH 4.0, 5.0 and 6.0 (37 degrees C), were determined. The half-lives of the conjugates varied between 3h and 300 days. All the compounds were increasingly stable as the pH approached neutrality. Conjugate hydrolysis rates mirrored those found for O-glycoside hydrolysis where conjugates formed from electron-rich monosaccharides hydrolyzed more rapidly.